Hawk pads...ceramic or regular
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 580
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From: Fort Lauderdale Florida
Hawk pads...ceramic or regular
I'm looking to get people's opinions on Hawk's High performance street pads and their high performance street ceramic pads. The money difference is about $10 for a pair so money really isn't an issue.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 167
Likes: 18
From: South East USA
What if someone who doesn't normally track a car decided one day to go to the track with ceramics? At the end of the day would you have rotor damage or pads ruined, or is it just that they won't perform as well after being heated up as the regular pads?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 580
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From: Fort Lauderdale Florida
I know hawk also makes a pad for autocross track/ street use. You might be better off using that if you are planning on doing track as well as street. I believe it's the HP plus
Racer
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 252
Likes: 2
It's all about temperature. If you stay below the maximum operation temp (MOT), you are fine. Go beyond and they fade and then start break down. I often recommend people stay on their street pads for their first few track days until they have had time to learn the track (and hopefully spend time with an instructor). Once they start to run hard enough to get the street pads to fade, then it is time to start talking about higher temp pads.
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Pro
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 681
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From: Morris County, NJ
FWIW
I recently installed the Hawk ceramics on all 4 corners on my wife's Tahoe. Resufaced 4 rotors before installing. Burnished the pads as instructed in Hawk's 'bed in' procedure. REsult = the initial 'bite' or feel upon applying the brake is downright awful-she didn't know I replaced the pads till I told her. If you really need to hit the brakes hard, they will flat out stop this almost 6000 pound monster in a hurry-even engaging ABS front and rear-IMO that is one heck of an accomplishment.
If I had t do it over again, I would definately go with a different (semi-metallic) pad, as greater than 99% of all stops are not 'panic' stops.
I was going to replace these with another pad, eating the 150 bucks, but I would have to resurface the rotors again because Hawk says in normal use, pad material is transferred to the rotor and this actually helps braking
Steve
I recently installed the Hawk ceramics on all 4 corners on my wife's Tahoe. Resufaced 4 rotors before installing. Burnished the pads as instructed in Hawk's 'bed in' procedure. REsult = the initial 'bite' or feel upon applying the brake is downright awful-she didn't know I replaced the pads till I told her. If you really need to hit the brakes hard, they will flat out stop this almost 6000 pound monster in a hurry-even engaging ABS front and rear-IMO that is one heck of an accomplishment.
If I had t do it over again, I would definately go with a different (semi-metallic) pad, as greater than 99% of all stops are not 'panic' stops.
I was going to replace these with another pad, eating the 150 bucks, but I would have to resurface the rotors again because Hawk says in normal use, pad material is transferred to the rotor and this actually helps braking
Steve
Racer
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 252
Likes: 2
FWIW
I recently installed the Hawk ceramics on all 4 corners on my wife's Tahoe. Resufaced 4 rotors before installing. Burnished the pads as instructed in Hawk's 'bed in' procedure. REsult = the initial 'bite' or feel upon applying the brake is downright awful-she didn't know I replaced the pads till I told her. If you really need to hit the brakes hard, they will flat out stop this almost 6000 pound monster in a hurry-even engaging ABS front and rear-IMO that is one heck of an accomplishment.
If I had t do it over again, I would definately go with a different (semi-metallic) pad, as greater than 99% of all stops are not 'panic' stops.
I was going to replace these with another pad, eating the 150 bucks, but I would have to resurface the rotors again because Hawk says in normal use, pad material is transferred to the rotor and this actually helps braking
I recently installed the Hawk ceramics on all 4 corners on my wife's Tahoe. Resufaced 4 rotors before installing. Burnished the pads as instructed in Hawk's 'bed in' procedure. REsult = the initial 'bite' or feel upon applying the brake is downright awful-she didn't know I replaced the pads till I told her. If you really need to hit the brakes hard, they will flat out stop this almost 6000 pound monster in a hurry-even engaging ABS front and rear-IMO that is one heck of an accomplishment.
If I had t do it over again, I would definately go with a different (semi-metallic) pad, as greater than 99% of all stops are not 'panic' stops.
I was going to replace these with another pad, eating the 150 bucks, but I would have to resurface the rotors again because Hawk says in normal use, pad material is transferred to the rotor and this actually helps braking
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 580
Likes: 0
From: Fort Lauderdale Florida
Can anyone give me some comparison info between the HPS and the ceramic pad?
I think I'm leaning more towards the HPS pads just because it seems like they might break a little better than the ceramics.
I think I'm leaning more towards the HPS pads just because it seems like they might break a little better than the ceramics.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 252
Likes: 2
Chris
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,949
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From: Monticello MN
My experience has been that the HPS pads dust a lot. They do dust quite a bit more than the stock pads. That being said, they stop great. I believe the trade-off is worth it. I increased the power of the car significantly and believed I should increase stopping power, also. Mission accomplished. 
Ed
Ed
Lifetime NCM Member #2497
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,366
Likes: 45
From: Indiana
Cruise-In 9-10-11-12 Veteran
I use the Hawk HPS on my C5 that I track and I love them. They will leave a ton of dust and squeal like a pig. You just need to make sure that you warm them up before any hard breaking. Good luck
